Detail from Theodate Pope Riddle, taken shortly after her survival of the sinking of the Lusitania, 1915
– Hill-Stead Museum
Theodate Pope Riddle (1867-1946)
Born into wealth, Theodate Pope Riddle broke with convention by becoming a self-taught architect. After her education at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Theodate absorbed European architectural influences while on Grand Tour. Back in Farmington, she restored an 18th-century house and in 1901 created a home, Hill-Stead, for her parents. In 1918 she was accepted into the American Institute of Architects and, in 1933, became only the sixth woman licensed as an architect in Connecticut. Her Avon Old Farms School project embodied another of her interests: education. She not only designed the campus to foster moral and intellectual values, she formulated its guiding vision and curriculum as well. Today, Hill-Stead is, according to Theodate’s wishes to honor her parents, a public museum.
